scripts in workflows

Has anyone ever heard of scripts not being run when they are instantiated from TeamSite (i.e. select file, submit, choose template, run job)? I have acase where a script will not perform what it was designed to do when run from thw above mentioned scenario.

But if I run the external task from the command line passing (jobid, taskid, area) it runs fine...

Am I nuts? I have tried everything....

Thanks.

Lucas Cochrane
lcochrane@dc.com

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Bbeirnaert

No you are not nuts at all, I had this problem too.

When I do a generation from the command line (with iwpt_compile) it works, when I select the generated file an do a regenerate, it works, but when I do a generate or a preview from the templating UI (like the webbased) it won't work !

The same, I have a script that deletes some temporary files outside the store ($iwhome/tmp/...), ti works good when executing from the cmdline but when I call it from the workflow, I doesn't work. It is indeed an real simple script, I made others more comlpicated than it that works well.

So I think it is not restricted to the workflow

I all ready post my first problem in the templating section of this forum.

Edited by Bbeirnaert on 12/06/02 01:37 AM (server time).

Migrateduser

This is indeed a common issue that crops up when developing a script that will be executed automatically by cron/at scheduler, event trigger, workflow or templating. Ie, when you write and test the script from the command line, it works fine, but when you try executing it via one of the automated methods listed above, it fails.

The reason is nearly always one of the following: You're relying on an environment variable (such as PATH) that is not set the same when the script is executed, you're using relative paths that are not evaluated the same (because when a script is executed via automated facility, the current dir is dependent on the mechanism starting the script,) or libs/modules that your code is dependent on are not accessible, usually for one of the above reasons (ie, environment variable changes or relative path issues.)

The best way to avoid these issues is to do the following:
1.) Make no assumptions about paths. Make all CLT and other program execution calls based on absolute paths, and provide absolute paths for all path-oriented command arguments.
2.) derive the path to iw-home using TeamSite::Config::iwgethome, and use it as the basis for all paths you calculate that should fall inside iw-home, such as bin/, iw-perl/, local/, etc.
3.) keep all your stuff (files) inside iw-home/local. THis will reduce scope of possible errors and help make your code more portable.
4. Make no assumptions about env var values. This is particularly important when calling <inline> scripts from a DCT.
5. Try not to use any Perl modules that are not part of the standard iw-perl distribution. If you must, make sure they are properly installed.
6. Test, test, test. Make sure your script is logging _everything_ to an external file that you can check during testing. Write out every externally-derived value your code depends on to see what's different between command-line and automated execution, especially the pwd, PATH, and other env vars.
7. In Perl scripts, use the -w interpreter option so you can see warnings that often give you a clue.

I'm sure the true script gurus will tack more on here, but these are the things that have bit me during script development.

bw

Bob Walden [bob.walden@interwoven.com]
Interwoven Education Group
IM: Yahoo, MSN bob_walden